Excellent Smartwatch, but Unpleasant App Surprise…
As an exclusive Citizen customer and avid collector, I had been contemplating adding this watch to my collection for quite some time, and finally did after weighing all the reviews I could come across in this website, other vendors’ websites, and every social media platform. And, I am very glad I did. The watch is not for those who prefer cloned cellphone screens as watches, but for people who prefer practicality, functionality, style, and uniqueness over fad. It conveys everything a smartwatch should be, cleverly packed into a “dive watch” case, where even the hour and minute hands have secondary and tertiary functions. The watch is a real treat, even for the most purist horologists who might frown upon smartwatches. However, I just came across a very unpleasant surprise as I set up the watch through its different supporting apps. The watch is mainly controlled by the “Citizen Connected” app, which provides a series of advanced setting options, beyond basic settings managed through the watch itself. As I browsed through this app, I came across a series of icons unrelated to the watch’s functions that did not respond as expected and did not lead to their intended targets, however my intrigue led me to reach out to Citizen for their support. After a very diligent and amicable series of email exchanges, that even included screenshot videos, Citizen could not identify the source of the problem until I shared that I live in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to which they responded that the app is only available in the mainland USA, Mexico, Canada, and the UK. For a company from Japan (a series of islands, just like Puerto Rico), who has prided itself in producing watches that adapt and perform in any timezone (PCAT’s of which I own 2 and receive their update radio signal between 2:00 AM and 4:00 AM every morning from the Fort Collins, Colorado, USA station; and Altichron’s, of which I own 1 that provides me directions and altitude anywhere in the world I am), limiting an apps full functionality to 4 countries is very disappointing. As confirmation to all this, I activated my cellphone’s VPN (Virtual Private Network) and set it for one of the supported countries, and a series of other functions sprung into the app, including the much advertised “Riiiver watchfaces” with expanded self-updating displays and functions, which automatically disappear from the app and the watch when deactivate my VPN. In summary, I can download the apps (Citizen Connected, YouQ, and Riiiver), for exactly the same watch being sold worldwide, but have limited functionality due to living in Puerto Rico: truly appalling. I truly hope this review helps any decision-making process from potential buyers in unsupported areas/countries, or moves Citizen to update the app(s) to support currently unsupported areas/countries.